Sabathia, Braun Lead Brew Crew to Playoffs in '08 APBA Replay

Courtesy of BaseballBacks/Creative Commons

C.C. Sabathia closed out the season in style -- with 34 shutout innings and a no-hitter in leading the Brewers to their first playoffs in 26 years in my APBA Baseball game replay of Milwaukee's 2008 season.

As in real life, Sabathia -- acquired in a mid-season trade with the Indians -- proved a game-changer. In his 17 starts for my Brewers, Sabathia tossed 13 complete games, 6 shutouts and a no-hitter versus the Reds on Sept. 20 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

C.C.'s no-no was one of many highlights in a replay that saw my Brewers match their real-life record of 90-72, good for second place in the NL Central behind the Cubs. While Sabathia (12-4, 1.81 ERA) was teaming up with Ben Sheets (16-11, 2.49 ERA) on the mound, Ryan Braun anchored the offense with 40 home runs, while scoring 104 runs and driving in 113. Meanwhile, Prince Fielder kicked in 32 homers to go along with 97 RBI.

Although I've been playing APBA some four decades since first rolling the dice for "The Kid" Robin Yount and "Hammerin'" Hank Aaron, this was my first full-season replay. I picked the '08 squad in part because I couldn't bear to lose close to 100 games as so many of Milwaukee's teams have done over the years.

I'll admit plenty of anxiety throughout the season, however, as I wondered if I could manage the Crew to the playoffs or suffer the same fate as Ned Yost, who was booted in favor of Dale Sveum with but a dozen games to go.

What frustrated me game after game was the Brewers' persistent lack of offense! This for a team that batted .253 and scored 750 runs and smacked 198 home runs. In my replay, the Brewers hit a paltry .226 while scoring 50 fewer runs. My Brewers hit 196 homers, while upping their doubles from 324 to 351. Nevertheless, their slugging and on-base percentages also dipped (.431 vs. .412 and .325 vs. .300).

Countering the drop in offense, apparently, was a spike in quality pitching! The replay Crew shaved three-quarters of a run off the team ERA -- from 3.85 to 3.15, which easily would have led the league in pitching!

Honestly, I'm stumped by the stats!

Seeing this slump in hitting from nearly the get-go, I had my doubts whether the Brewers could muster enough runs to match their real-life win total. But the ridiculously good pitching persisted, culminating in Sabathia's end-of-the-season invincibility.

In the end, I was amazed how close most of the other team stats matched reality.

And with some exceptions, individuals weren't too far off either. Sabathia, for instance, was 12-4 compared to 11-2. Sheets went 16-11 vs. 13-9.

Braun's .267/40/113 matched up with .285/37/106 while Fielder went .246/32/97 vs. .276/34/102. J.J. Hardy went .263/28/88  against .283/24/74.

When it came to hitting, my biggest disappointment was Corey Hart, who went .268/20/91 for real. In the replay he slumped miserably to .217/15/74. Meanwhile, one of my faves, centerfielder Mike Cameron was an uncanny .236/24/74, compared to reality's .243/25/70.

What did I learn about the way I manage over the course of this season?

Mainly that I prefer starting pitching, and that I way over-use the hit-and-run and except for pitchers, I almost never use the sacrifice bunt.

My rotation amassed 46 complete games -- 29 by Sheets and Sabathia. The real Brewers had 12 ... total! This probably accounted for the lack of replay saves, 31 vs. 45.

In real life, the Brewers had fewer than one stolen base per game, 108. I piled up 158, including 37 apiece for Cameron and Hart and 36 for my main leadoff hitter, Rickie Weeks. That was only about double their actual totals: Cameron 17, Hart 23, and Weeks 19. D'oh!

In the end, this replay was more an experiment than anything. Based on all the other replays I've read about over the years in the APBA Journal/APBA Blog and elsewhere, I figured the Brewers would end up pretty close to their actual record. But I had to prove it to myself.

Also just as in real life, it was alternately exhilarating when the Brewers won and funk-inducing when they lost, especially what seemed like an inordinate number of walk-off wins by the likes of the Reds, Cards and Astros -- damn you, Joey Votto!

Some highlights:

Sept. 28: Brewers win their last game of the season, a 3-0 shutout by Sabathia for win number 12. They finish the replay with a 90-72 record -- identical to real life.

Sept. 27: Braun hits a pair of home runs in a 7-1 win over the Cubs.

Sept. 25: The Brewers lose 3-2 to the lowly Pirates in 11 innings. The loss drops the Brewers' record to 7-8 record against the Bucs for the year, a far cry from the 14-1 record they posted against Pittsburgh in real life.

Sept. 21: The Brewers score 5 runs in the 9th inning, including a 3-run home run by Mike Cameron to defeat the Reds 13-8.

Sept. 20: Sabathia throws a no-hitter to beat the Reds 3-0. Fielder and Hardy hit home runs to provide the offense.

Sept. 11: Jamie Moyer of the Phillies throws a no-hitter in defeating the Brewers 4-0.

Sept. 2-3: Mets errors lead to back-to-back walk-off wins for the Brewers.

Aug. 15-17: The Brewers sweep Los Angeles in a three-game series at Dodger Stadium.

Aug. 6: Joey Votto hits a two-out, grand slam in the bottom of the 9th to rally the Reds to a 7-4 win.

July 28: The Brewers defeat the Cubs 5-4 in 18 innings on back-to-back doubles by Hardy and Braun.

July 18-20: The visiting Brewers sweep the Giants in three games at AT&T Park.

July 15: Ben Sheets and Ryan Braun start for the NL All-Stars at Yankee Stadium. The AL wins 12-4 behind MVP Manny Ramirez, who goes 2-for-3 with 5 RBI on a double and a triple.

July 13: In one of his rare bad outings, Sabathia loses 11-5 to the Reds at Miller Park, dropping the Brewers to 51-44 at the All-Star Break.

June 25: Braun smacks a 10th-inning home run to beat the Braves 5-4.

June 7-8: On consecutive nights Corey Hart hits two-run home runs in the final inning to rally the team to wins over the Rockies in Denver.

June 6: Brad Haupe jacks at two-out grand slam in the bottom of the 10th to drop the Brewers 6-2.

May 30: Russell Branyan hits a pinch-hit homer in the bottom of the 10th to beat the Astros 7-6.

May 27: Mike Cameron hits a pair of home runs to lead the Crew to a 4-1 win over the Braves.

May 25: The Nationals pound the Brewers 15-3, smacking 19 hits.

May 12: The Brewers win 1-0, scoring the winning run on a walk-off hit by Gabe Kapler, subbing for Braun.

May 11: The first six batters for the visiting Cardinals reach base and score on the way to a 12-5 win.

April 25: The Brewers hit five home runs, including two by Braun, to defeat the Marlins 15-2.

April 24: Prince Fielder smacks at walk-off three-run home run to rally the Brewers to a 4-3 win over the Phillies.

April 20: The Brewers fall four games under .500 to 7-11 after a 1-0 shutout by Aaron Harang of the Reds.

March 30: Ben Sheets begins the season the same way he ends it, with a win over the Cubs, this one a 4-2 victory on opening day at Wrigley Field.

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Note: This replay took me about a year to complete. I took a break after about 30 games, right about the time Ryan Braun was suspended for the rest of last season. When I finally got over it, the pace of play heated up the closer I got to the end ...